US4464141A - Shaft coupling - Google Patents

Shaft coupling Download PDF

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US4464141A
US4464141A US06/373,639 US37363982A US4464141A US 4464141 A US4464141 A US 4464141A US 37363982 A US37363982 A US 37363982A US 4464141 A US4464141 A US 4464141A
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shaft
teeth
spline
point
radius
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US06/373,639
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Harry W. Brown
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ARINC Inc
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ARINC Research Corp
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Priority to US06/373,639 priority Critical patent/US4464141A/en
Assigned to ARINC RESEARCH CORPORATION reassignment ARINC RESEARCH CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST. Assignors: BROWN, HARRY W.
Priority to EP83810178A priority patent/EP0093694B1/en
Priority to DE8383810178T priority patent/DE3370173D1/en
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Assigned to BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT reassignment BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST Assignors: ARINC INCORPORATED
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    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F16ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
    • F16DCOUPLINGS FOR TRANSMITTING ROTATION; CLUTCHES; BRAKES
    • F16D3/00Yielding couplings, i.e. with means permitting movement between the connected parts during the drive
    • F16D3/16Universal joints in which flexibility is produced by means of pivots or sliding or rolling connecting parts
    • F16D3/18Universal joints in which flexibility is produced by means of pivots or sliding or rolling connecting parts the coupling parts (1) having slidably-interengaging teeth
    • F16D3/185Universal joints in which flexibility is produced by means of pivots or sliding or rolling connecting parts the coupling parts (1) having slidably-interengaging teeth radial teeth connecting concentric inner and outer coupling parts
    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F16ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
    • F16DCOUPLINGS FOR TRANSMITTING ROTATION; CLUTCHES; BRAKES
    • F16D1/00Couplings for rigidly connecting two coaxial shafts or other movable machine elements
    • F16D1/10Quick-acting couplings in which the parts are connected by simply bringing them together axially
    • F16D2001/103Quick-acting couplings in which the parts are connected by simply bringing them together axially the torque is transmitted via splined connections
    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F16ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
    • F16DCOUPLINGS FOR TRANSMITTING ROTATION; CLUTCHES; BRAKES
    • F16D3/00Yielding couplings, i.e. with means permitting movement between the connected parts during the drive
    • F16D3/50Yielding couplings, i.e. with means permitting movement between the connected parts during the drive with the coupling parts connected by one or more intermediate members
    • F16D3/76Yielding couplings, i.e. with means permitting movement between the connected parts during the drive with the coupling parts connected by one or more intermediate members shaped as an elastic ring centered on the axis, surrounding a portion of one coupling part and surrounded by a sleeve of the other coupling part

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a system for coupling drive and driven shafts. More particularly, it relates to a coupling system which is capable of accommodating angular misalignment and axial displacement. These coupling systems are often known as flexible couplings.
  • Flexible couplings are designed to allow the transmission of power between a drive shaft and a driven shaft, and usually include spline teeth which are in full contact along their flanks. These couplings permit axial displacement between the shafts and allow a limited amount of angular misalignment. The amount of misalignment depends upon the tooth shape and the amount of play between teeth and the drive and driven numbers. Metallic splines cannot accept relatively high amounts of misalignment, since the loss of contact area from misalignment results in high tooth stresses and fretting.
  • Non-metallic splines interpose a plastic bushing between mating teeth of the drive and driven shafts.
  • This plastic bushing virtually eliminates the fretting problem described above with metallic splines.
  • Only the expendable, inexpensive bushing is subject to wear.
  • Attempts have been made to apply non-metallic spline couplings in situations where it is difficult to control the amount of angular misalignment.
  • Such applications include aircraft and helicopter accessory drives, which are subject to changing angular misalignment, changing speeds and changing torques.
  • misalignments of as much as five degrees are encountered.
  • Prior attempts to solve these problems have not satisfactorily provided increased clearance at the ends of the spline teeth for accommodating misalignment while simultaneously maintaining a relatively constant bearing surface area. Previous couplings have allowed only very minor amounts of misalignment.
  • a spline coupling having a hollow bushing which cooperates with a first shaft and a spline adapter for a second shaft which cooperates with the bushing.
  • the second shaft is axially movable within the spline adapter.
  • the bushing is provided with a number of splines, formed by semicircular recesses in the inner surface of the bushing.
  • the spline adapter is provided with a plurality of splines, having a boat-shaped configuration which permits greater clearances at the extreme ends of the splines.
  • the sides of the spline adapter splines are arcuate, to provide the greatest bearing surface, and are cut to a substantially constant depth across their length to ensure constant bearing area under different amounts of misalignment.
  • FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the shaft coupling of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a vertical axial sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a spline adapter, with milling cutter 28 shown in phantom lines;
  • FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3;
  • FIG. 5 is a front elevational view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 3;
  • FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a single spline tooth of the spline adapter.
  • the present shaft coupling system is made up of four main parts: a driven shaft 10, a spline adapter 12, bushing 14, and drive shaft 16. It should be noted that the designations as “drive shaft” and “driven shaft” are for convenience only, and that shaft 10 could be the drive shaft and shaft 16 could be driven shaft if so desired.
  • the bushing 14 is made of a high impact plastic. It can be compression or injection molded from high performance plastics such as polyamide and polyamide-imide resins. It is particularly advantageous if the resin is of the class which is self-lubricating.
  • the driven shaft, spline adpater, and drive shaft are preferably made of steel. The use of different materials for the bushing and the adapter inhibits the tendency of the parts to mate together under load.
  • Teeth 11 of the driven shaft 10 mate with recesses 13 of the spline adapter 12 in a slip-fit relationship. This allows axial movement of the shaft 10 with respect to the spline adapter 12, and thus allows for axial displacement.
  • the bushing 14 is securely and substantially non-movably held within the drive shaft 16. This can be accomplished, for example, by providing teeth 15 on the bushing which form an interference fit with recesses 17 on the drive shaft. That is, the bushing is force-fit within the drive shaft.
  • teeth 15 on the bushing which form an interference fit with recesses 17 on the drive shaft. That is, the bushing is force-fit within the drive shaft.
  • other methods of connecting the bushing to the drive shaft connecting the spline adapter to the driven shaft will be readily apparent to one ordinarily skilled in the art.
  • the surace of the spline adapter is formed to be arcuate in longitudinal axial cross section, having a radius of R 2 .
  • the transverse cross section of a tooth 22 is formed by two arcs with substantially equal radii of curvature 24 and 26. These arcs form the sides of the tooth, and are substantially constant along the length of the tooth. The arcs terminate at a common point to form a radially outermost linear peak along the tooth. At the center of the tooth, where the diameter of the spline adapter is greatest, the centers of curvature of each arc coincide.
  • radius 24 and radius 26 each originate from the same point.
  • the cross section is part-circular.
  • the centers of curvature migrate.
  • the tooth is preferably substantially symmetrical about the transverse line which includes the center of the tooth, but is not necessarily so. Moving from the point where the centers of curvature of radii 24 and 26 coincide toward the ends of the tooth, it is preferred that the distance between the centers of curvature increase.
  • the shape can generally be considered as "boat-shaped".
  • the shape of the tooth may also be conceptualized by considering one method of forming the tooth, as shown in FIGS. 3 through 5.
  • a tooth 22 is formed by cutter 28.
  • Cutter 28 may be conveniently thought of as cutting the space between the teeth.
  • the diameter of the spline adapter 12 upon which the cutter works decreases as the cutter is moved away from the middle of the tooth.
  • the same size gap is worked on a gradually decreasing diameter.
  • the cutter 28 approaches the ends of the teeth, it shaves off part of the tooth which was previously cut. This results in a slight decrease in the height of the tooth, which is not believed to significantly affect the performance of the shaft coupling.
  • arcuate i.e.
  • an optimum and benign load bearing surface is provided.
  • the "benign" surface allows for a friendly mating of the parts and reduces wear. Since the same cutter (or cutters of the same size) is used for each tooth, the radius of curvature is the same for all the arcs which form the flanks of the teeth. The amount of arc which the cutter transverses determines radius R 2 , and thus the amount of misalignment which can be tolerated. It is desirable that a misalignment of up to 10° be accepted by the coupling.
  • the inner surface of the bushing 14 is provided with a plurality of arcuately formed part-circular recesses 18. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the bushing is formed so that, in its inner surface, a longitudinal arcuate groove is formed having radius R 1 . The provision of this longitudinally curved surface permits the bushing 14 to hold the spline adapter 12 securely so that the spline adapter will not axially slide out of the bushing 14. Of course, if no axial displacement is contemplated, the bushing could be formed so as to be substantially cylindrical and the shaft 10 and spline adapter 12 could be of unitary construction. The portion 16 could be directly machined on a drive shaft, or, as is well known in the art, the coupling could be executed by bolting a separate part 16 onto a shaft via bolt holes, which could be provided in the outwardly extending flange.
  • the recesses 18 of the bushing have a constant size and shape along the length of the bushing. It is important that the ridges between the recesses of the bushing do not extend further towards the interior of the bushing than the form diameter of the bushing.
  • the form diameter is an imaginary circle defined by the centers of curvature of each recess.
  • the greatest form diameter of the bushing is substantially equal to the greatest form diameter of the spline adapter, which is described by the imaginary circle defined by the centers of curvature of the spline teeth 22 at the point of coincidence for the centers of curvature of radii 24 and 26.
  • each spline tooth 22 do not extend further inwardly than the form diameter of the spline adapter.
  • the radius of the bushing recesses cannot be less than either of the radii 24 and 26. Otherwise, the spline teeth could not engage the bushing.
  • the number of teeth may be varied, but enough must be provided so that the load is safely carried.
  • the present shaft coupling accommodates axial displacement through splip-fit engagement of shaft 10 and adopter 12, and simultaneous angular misalignment between shafts 10 and 16 is accommodated through the difference between R 1 and R 2 .
  • a small difference between R 1 and R 2 can provide accommodation of a relatively large misalignment.
  • the ratio of R 1 to R 2 will depend on the actual size of the coupling, the number of teeth, and amount of misalignment to be accommodated. Clearance at the ends of the coupling necessary to accommodate the angular misalignment is provided by the special spline tooth shape described above. The arcuate sides and substantially constant height of these teeth provide that an optimum and benign bearing surface will be provided, despite any angular misalignment.

Abstract

A shaft coupling system for accommodating axial displacement and angular misalignment between two shafts. A hollow bushing is force fit into the hollow end of a first shaft. The bushing is provided with a plurality of part-circular recesses on its inner surface. A spline adapter is slip-fit onto a second shaft. The spline adapter cooperates with the bushing, and has spline teeth extending from its outer surface which are substantially boat-shaped. The shape of the teeth allows for extra clearance at the ends of the coupling system, which is necessary to accommodate angular misalignment. The bushing is made of readily replaceable and relatively inexpensive plastic materials.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The subject of this application is an improvement over the shaft coupling disclosed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 179,006, filed Aug. 18, 1980, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,137.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for coupling drive and driven shafts. More particularly, it relates to a coupling system which is capable of accommodating angular misalignment and axial displacement. These coupling systems are often known as flexible couplings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Flexible couplings are designed to allow the transmission of power between a drive shaft and a driven shaft, and usually include spline teeth which are in full contact along their flanks. These couplings permit axial displacement between the shafts and allow a limited amount of angular misalignment. The amount of misalignment depends upon the tooth shape and the amount of play between teeth and the drive and driven numbers. Metallic splines cannot accept relatively high amounts of misalignment, since the loss of contact area from misalignment results in high tooth stresses and fretting.
Non-metallic splines interpose a plastic bushing between mating teeth of the drive and driven shafts. This plastic bushing virtually eliminates the fretting problem described above with metallic splines. Only the expendable, inexpensive bushing is subject to wear. Attempts have been made to apply non-metallic spline couplings in situations where it is difficult to control the amount of angular misalignment. Such applications include aircraft and helicopter accessory drives, which are subject to changing angular misalignment, changing speeds and changing torques. As an example, in helicopter rotor drives, misalignments of as much as five degrees are encountered. Prior attempts to solve these problems have not satisfactorily provided increased clearance at the ends of the spline teeth for accommodating misalignment while simultaneously maintaining a relatively constant bearing surface area. Previous couplings have allowed only very minor amounts of misalignment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a shaft coupling capable of accepting relatively high amounts of angular misalignment, such as up to 10°, while maintaining a relatively constant bearing surface.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a shaft coupling capable of accommodating axial displacement simultaneously with angular misalignment.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a shaft coupling which is inexpensive and easy to replace, and requires no lubrication or periodic maintenance.
The above objects and others are obtained by providing a spline coupling having a hollow bushing which cooperates with a first shaft and a spline adapter for a second shaft which cooperates with the bushing. The second shaft is axially movable within the spline adapter. The bushing is provided with a number of splines, formed by semicircular recesses in the inner surface of the bushing. The spline adapter is provided with a plurality of splines, having a boat-shaped configuration which permits greater clearances at the extreme ends of the splines. The sides of the spline adapter splines are arcuate, to provide the greatest bearing surface, and are cut to a substantially constant depth across their length to ensure constant bearing area under different amounts of misalignment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the shaft coupling of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a vertical axial sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a spline adapter, with milling cutter 28 shown in phantom lines;
FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a front elevational view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a single spline tooth of the spline adapter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present shaft coupling system is made up of four main parts: a driven shaft 10, a spline adapter 12, bushing 14, and drive shaft 16. It should be noted that the designations as "drive shaft" and "driven shaft" are for convenience only, and that shaft 10 could be the drive shaft and shaft 16 could be driven shaft if so desired.
The bushing 14 is made of a high impact plastic. It can be compression or injection molded from high performance plastics such as polyamide and polyamide-imide resins. It is particularly advantageous if the resin is of the class which is self-lubricating. The driven shaft, spline adpater, and drive shaft are preferably made of steel. The use of different materials for the bushing and the adapter inhibits the tendency of the parts to mate together under load.
Teeth 11 of the driven shaft 10 mate with recesses 13 of the spline adapter 12 in a slip-fit relationship. This allows axial movement of the shaft 10 with respect to the spline adapter 12, and thus allows for axial displacement.
The bushing 14 is securely and substantially non-movably held within the drive shaft 16. This can be accomplished, for example, by providing teeth 15 on the bushing which form an interference fit with recesses 17 on the drive shaft. That is, the bushing is force-fit within the drive shaft. Of course, other methods of connecting the bushing to the drive shaft connecting the spline adapter to the driven shaft will be readily apparent to one ordinarily skilled in the art. There is a slip fit relation between adapter 12 and bushing 14.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 through 6, the shape of the spline teeth of the spline adapter will now be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the surace of the spline adapter is formed to be arcuate in longitudinal axial cross section, having a radius of R2. Referring to FIG. 6, the transverse cross section of a tooth 22 is formed by two arcs with substantially equal radii of curvature 24 and 26. These arcs form the sides of the tooth, and are substantially constant along the length of the tooth. The arcs terminate at a common point to form a radially outermost linear peak along the tooth. At the center of the tooth, where the diameter of the spline adapter is greatest, the centers of curvature of each arc coincide. That is, radius 24 and radius 26 each originate from the same point. At this point, of course, the cross section is part-circular. As the cross section is taken closer to the ends of the tooth, the centers of curvature migrate. Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, at the end of the tooth, the center of curvature for radius 24 has migrated towards the side which is the arc having radius 26, while the center of curvature for radius 26 has migrated towards the side which is the arc having radius 24. The tooth is preferably substantially symmetrical about the transverse line which includes the center of the tooth, but is not necessarily so. Moving from the point where the centers of curvature of radii 24 and 26 coincide toward the ends of the tooth, it is preferred that the distance between the centers of curvature increase. The shape can generally be considered as "boat-shaped".
The shape of the tooth may also be conceptualized by considering one method of forming the tooth, as shown in FIGS. 3 through 5. In these figures, a tooth 22 is formed by cutter 28. Cutter 28 may be conveniently thought of as cutting the space between the teeth. The diameter of the spline adapter 12 upon which the cutter works decreases as the cutter is moved away from the middle of the tooth. Thus, the same size gap is worked on a gradually decreasing diameter. As the cutter 28 approaches the ends of the teeth, it shaves off part of the tooth which was previously cut. This results in a slight decrease in the height of the tooth, which is not believed to significantly affect the performance of the shaft coupling. By giving each side of the teeth an arcuate (i.e. part-circular) configuration, an optimum and benign load bearing surface is provided. The "benign" surface allows for a friendly mating of the parts and reduces wear. Since the same cutter (or cutters of the same size) is used for each tooth, the radius of curvature is the same for all the arcs which form the flanks of the teeth. The amount of arc which the cutter transverses determines radius R2, and thus the amount of misalignment which can be tolerated. It is desirable that a misalignment of up to 10° be accepted by the coupling.
The inner surface of the bushing 14 is provided with a plurality of arcuately formed part-circular recesses 18. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the bushing is formed so that, in its inner surface, a longitudinal arcuate groove is formed having radius R1. The provision of this longitudinally curved surface permits the bushing 14 to hold the spline adapter 12 securely so that the spline adapter will not axially slide out of the bushing 14. Of course, if no axial displacement is contemplated, the bushing could be formed so as to be substantially cylindrical and the shaft 10 and spline adapter 12 could be of unitary construction. The portion 16 could be directly machined on a drive shaft, or, as is well known in the art, the coupling could be executed by bolting a separate part 16 onto a shaft via bolt holes, which could be provided in the outwardly extending flange.
Unlike the spline teeth 22 of the spline adapter, the recesses 18 of the bushing have a constant size and shape along the length of the bushing. It is important that the ridges between the recesses of the bushing do not extend further towards the interior of the bushing than the form diameter of the bushing. The form diameter is an imaginary circle defined by the centers of curvature of each recess. The greatest form diameter of the bushing is substantially equal to the greatest form diameter of the spline adapter, which is described by the imaginary circle defined by the centers of curvature of the spline teeth 22 at the point of coincidence for the centers of curvature of radii 24 and 26. The recesses between each spline tooth 22 do not extend further inwardly than the form diameter of the spline adapter. Of course, the radius of the bushing recesses cannot be less than either of the radii 24 and 26. Otherwise, the spline teeth could not engage the bushing. The number of teeth may be varied, but enough must be provided so that the load is safely carried.
It can thus be seen that the present shaft coupling accommodates axial displacement through splip-fit engagement of shaft 10 and adopter 12, and simultaneous angular misalignment between shafts 10 and 16 is accommodated through the difference between R1 and R2. A small difference between R1 and R2 can provide accommodation of a relatively large misalignment. The ratio of R1 to R2 will depend on the actual size of the coupling, the number of teeth, and amount of misalignment to be accommodated. Clearance at the ends of the coupling necessary to accommodate the angular misalignment is provided by the special spline tooth shape described above. The arcuate sides and substantially constant height of these teeth provide that an optimum and benign bearing surface will be provided, despite any angular misalignment.

Claims (13)

What is claimed is:
1. A shaft coupling system comprising:
a first shaft having a hollow end;
a hollow bushing secured within the hollow end of said first shaft;
a second shaft having means for cooperating with said hollow bushing on the end of said second shaft, said means for cooperating having a surface arcuate in longitudinal cross section and having spline teeth extending from the surface, each of said spline teeth having an outer surface part-circular in longitudinal cross section, defined by a radius substantially greater than the distance between an axis of said second shaft and the outer surface of said teeth, and having a transverse cross section defined by substantially identical first and second part-circular arcs meeting at a single common point, said first and second arcs defining first and second sides respectively of the tooth, the radius centers of said first and second arcs coinciding at the point where the surface of said means for cooperating is the greatest radial distance from the center of said second shaft and from said point of coincidence to each end of said spline teeth, the radius center radius of said first arc is closer to said second side than to said first side, and the radius center of said second arc is closer to said first side than said second side, such that said teeth are tapered from said point to each end and the radial height of the teeth is greatest at the point of coincidence and decreases progressively from that point to each end.
2. A shaft coupling system comprising:
a first shaft having a hollow end;
a hollow bushing secured within the hollow end of said first shaft, the inner surface of said hollow bushing being provided with a plurality of part-circular recesses and corresponding areas between adjacent recesses, said areas extending no further towards the center of said bushing than the circle formed by the radius centers of said recesses;
a second shaft;
a spline adapter slip-fit onto said second shaft for cooperating with said bushing, having a surface formed so as to be arcuate in longitudinal cross section, having spline teeth extending from the surface of said spline adapter, said spline teeth having an outer surface part-circular in longitudinal cross section, defined by a radius substantially greater than the distance between an axis of said second shaft and the outer surface of said teeth, each of said teeth having a transverse cross section defined by substantially identical first and second part-circular arcs meeting at a single common point, said first and second arcs defining first and second sides respectively of the tooth, the radius centers of said first and second arcs coinciding at the point where the surface of said spline adapter is the greatest radial distance from the center line of said second shaft and from said point of coincidence to each end of each tooth, the radius center of said first arc is closer to said second side than to said first side, and the radius center of said second arc is closer to said first side than to said second side, such that said tooth is tapered from said point to each end and the radial height of the teeth is greatest at the point of coincidence and decreases progressively from that point to each end.
3. A shaft coupling system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein each of said spline teeth is of substantially uniform height for the length of the spline tooth.
4. A shaft coupling system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said bushing is formed so as to have an inner surface which is arcuate in longitudinal cross section, the arcuate cross section of said bushing having a radius greater than that of the arcuate longitudinal cross section of said spline adapter surface and that of the arcuate longitudinal cross section of said teeth.
5. A shaft coupling system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said bushing is force fit into the hollow end of said first shaft.
6. A hollow spline adapter for use in a shaft coupling system, comprising:
an inner surface having means for cooperating with a shaft;
an outer surface having an arcuate longitudinal cross section;
spline teeth extending from the outer surface, each of said teeth having an outer surface part-circular in longitudinal cross section, defined by a radius substantially greater than the distance between an axis of said shaft and the outer surface of said teeth, and having a transverse cross section defined by substantially identical first and second part-circular arcs meeting at a single common point, said first and second arcs defining first and second sides respectively of the tooth, the radius centers of said first and second arcs coinciding at the point where the surface of said spline adapters is the greatest radial distance from the center line of said spline adapter, from said point of coincidence to each end of said teeth, the radius center of said first arc is closer to said second side then to said first side, and the radius center of said second arc is closer to said first side than to said second side, such that said teeth are tapered from said point to each end, and the radial height of the teeth is greatest at the point of coincidence and decreases progressively from that point to each end.
7. A spline adapter as claimed in claim 6, wherein the height of each of said teeth is substantially uniform along the length of the teeth.
8. A shaft coupling system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the point of coincidence for the centers of curvature of said first and second arcs is located at the middle of the length of the spline adapter.
9. A shaft coupling system as claimed in claim 8, wherein each tooth of the spline adapter is longitudinally symmetrical about the middle of the length of each tooth.
10. A spline adapter as claimed in claim 7, wherein the point of coincidence for the centers of curvature of said first and second arcs is located at the middle of the length of the spline adapter.
11. A spline adapter as claimed in claim 10, wherein each tooth of the spline adapter is longitudinally symmetrical about the middle of the length of each tooth.
12. A shaft coupling system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said second shaft is slidable axially relative to and within said adapter, whereby the axial displacement of said shaft in said coupling system is permitted.
13. A shaft coupling system as claimed in claim 6, wherein a second shaft is slidable axially relative to and within said adapter, whereby the axial displacement of said shaft in said coupling system is permitted.
US06/373,639 1982-04-30 1982-04-30 Shaft coupling Expired - Lifetime US4464141A (en)

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US06/373,639 US4464141A (en) 1982-04-30 1982-04-30 Shaft coupling
EP83810178A EP0093694B1 (en) 1982-04-30 1983-04-28 Shaft coupling
DE8383810178T DE3370173D1 (en) 1982-04-30 1983-04-28 Shaft coupling

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US5007880A (en) * 1990-05-09 1991-04-16 Walker Stanley L Bevel splined articulated joint
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US5716279A (en) * 1995-11-21 1998-02-10 Itt Automotive Electrical Systems, Inc. Apparatus and method for coupling an output shaft of a motor to a secondary shaft
US5878832A (en) * 1997-08-13 1999-03-09 General Motors Corporation Steering apparatus for motor vehicle
EP1046892A2 (en) 1999-04-21 2000-10-25 BI Technologies Corporation Low-hysteresis coupling for angular-position and torque sensor
US6425749B1 (en) * 1999-03-29 2002-07-30 Robert Bosch Gmbh Coupling and fuel-supply pump with coupling
US20030188414A1 (en) * 1998-10-16 2003-10-09 Mark E. Baer Motor shaft assembly and method
US6705946B2 (en) 2001-06-18 2004-03-16 Honeywell International, Inc. Oil-less shaft coupling utilizing carbon-carbon composite and method of fabrication thereof
US20060169082A1 (en) * 2005-01-14 2006-08-03 One World Technologies Limited Shaft assembly
US20060199694A1 (en) * 2005-02-18 2006-09-07 Roberts Melvin D Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) Utilizing an Adjustable Fulcrum
US20080012245A1 (en) * 2006-07-12 2008-01-17 Black & Decker Inc. Pivotal/Rigid Accessories for Power And Hand Tools
US20100178190A1 (en) * 2007-09-07 2010-07-15 Gustavo Osvaldo Colombo Accurate Powder Metal Component, Assembly and Method
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WO2013166083A1 (en) * 2012-04-30 2013-11-07 Threat Spectrum Inc. Positioning device
CN104405781A (en) * 2014-11-26 2015-03-11 赵晓霞 Ring gear constant velocity universal joint
CN105422558A (en) * 2015-12-04 2016-03-23 中国航空动力机械研究所 Helicopter torque transmitting mechanism and helicopter speed reducer transmission device
CN105485191A (en) * 2015-12-29 2016-04-13 武汉正通传动技术有限公司 Double-drum-shaped gear coupling
US20180118333A1 (en) * 2013-09-05 2018-05-03 Airbus Operations Limited Landing gear drive system flexible interface
EP3431793A1 (en) 2017-07-18 2019-01-23 Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation Improved coupling assembly
US10253540B2 (en) * 2013-09-09 2019-04-09 ASSA ABLOY Accessories and Door Controls Group, Inc. Apparatus for connecting door closer or operator to swing door
US10322512B2 (en) * 2015-06-15 2019-06-18 C.R.F. Società Consortile Per Azioni Joint for constructions
US10676178B2 (en) 2013-09-05 2020-06-09 Airbus Operations Limited Landing gear drive system flexible interface
WO2021081638A1 (en) * 2019-10-31 2021-05-06 Distribution Ad Waters (Can) Inc. Adjustable covering trim for a concealed valve and articulated adaptor
CN114215882A (en) * 2021-12-07 2022-03-22 齐重数控装备股份有限公司 Multilayer product fine indexing powerful mechanical transmission device based on differential transposition principle
US20220161925A1 (en) * 2020-11-23 2022-05-26 Bell Textron Inc. Spline with spherical alignment terminal

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GB8523115D0 (en) * 1985-09-18 1985-10-23 Green P C Gear coupling
NL1005805C2 (en) * 1997-04-14 1998-10-27 Crown Gear Holding B V Sprocket coupling with crown gear teeth.
US20160195167A1 (en) * 2015-01-06 2016-07-07 Hofmann Engineering Pty Ltd Mechanical transmission

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US4840088A (en) * 1986-03-11 1989-06-20 Leitner, S.P.A. Mechanical transmission, particularly for cableway winches
US4825722A (en) * 1986-07-24 1989-05-02 Man Nutzfahrzeuge Gmbh Hydromechanical transmission for motor vehicles
US5000024A (en) * 1988-01-22 1991-03-19 Sms Schloemann-Siemag Aktiengesellschaft Rolling mill drive with spindles releasably arranged between pinions and work rolls
US4964324A (en) * 1988-11-14 1990-10-23 Sms Engineering, Inc. Side trimmer shear
US5007880A (en) * 1990-05-09 1991-04-16 Walker Stanley L Bevel splined articulated joint
WO1991017369A1 (en) * 1990-05-09 1991-11-14 Walker Stanley L Bevel splined articulated joint
WO1995003494A1 (en) * 1993-07-26 1995-02-02 Twin Disc, Incorporated Torque transfer system employing resilient drive ring
US5429220A (en) * 1993-07-26 1995-07-04 Twin Disc Incorporated Torque transfer system employing resilient drive ring
GB2296754A (en) * 1993-07-26 1996-07-10 Twin Disc Inc Torque transfer system employing resilient drive ring
US5464168A (en) * 1994-02-10 1995-11-07 Spencer Industries, Inc. Apparatus for slitting belt
US5716279A (en) * 1995-11-21 1998-02-10 Itt Automotive Electrical Systems, Inc. Apparatus and method for coupling an output shaft of a motor to a secondary shaft
US5878832A (en) * 1997-08-13 1999-03-09 General Motors Corporation Steering apparatus for motor vehicle
US7241117B2 (en) * 1998-10-16 2007-07-10 Shop Vac Corporation Motor shaft assembly and method
US20030188414A1 (en) * 1998-10-16 2003-10-09 Mark E. Baer Motor shaft assembly and method
US6425749B1 (en) * 1999-03-29 2002-07-30 Robert Bosch Gmbh Coupling and fuel-supply pump with coupling
US6427307B1 (en) 1999-04-21 2002-08-06 Steven Al-Rawi Low-hysteresis coupling method for angular-position and torque sensor
EP1046892A2 (en) 1999-04-21 2000-10-25 BI Technologies Corporation Low-hysteresis coupling for angular-position and torque sensor
US6190264B1 (en) 1999-04-21 2001-02-20 Bi Technologies Corporation Low-hysteresis coupling for angular-position and torque sensor
US6705946B2 (en) 2001-06-18 2004-03-16 Honeywell International, Inc. Oil-less shaft coupling utilizing carbon-carbon composite and method of fabrication thereof
US20060169082A1 (en) * 2005-01-14 2006-08-03 One World Technologies Limited Shaft assembly
US20060199694A1 (en) * 2005-02-18 2006-09-07 Roberts Melvin D Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) Utilizing an Adjustable Fulcrum
US20080012245A1 (en) * 2006-07-12 2008-01-17 Black & Decker Inc. Pivotal/Rigid Accessories for Power And Hand Tools
US7942426B2 (en) 2006-07-12 2011-05-17 Black & Decker Inc. Pivotal/rigid accessories for power and hand tools
US8636486B2 (en) * 2007-09-07 2014-01-28 GKN Sinter, LLC Accurate powder metal component, assembly and method
US20100178190A1 (en) * 2007-09-07 2010-07-15 Gustavo Osvaldo Colombo Accurate Powder Metal Component, Assembly and Method
US8650992B2 (en) 2010-02-16 2014-02-18 Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation Driver accessory
US20110197719A1 (en) * 2010-02-16 2011-08-18 Neitzell Roger D Driver accessory
WO2013166083A1 (en) * 2012-04-30 2013-11-07 Threat Spectrum Inc. Positioning device
US10676178B2 (en) 2013-09-05 2020-06-09 Airbus Operations Limited Landing gear drive system flexible interface
US20180118333A1 (en) * 2013-09-05 2018-05-03 Airbus Operations Limited Landing gear drive system flexible interface
US10864984B2 (en) * 2013-09-05 2020-12-15 Airbus Operations Limited Landing gear drive system flexible interface
US10253540B2 (en) * 2013-09-09 2019-04-09 ASSA ABLOY Accessories and Door Controls Group, Inc. Apparatus for connecting door closer or operator to swing door
CN104405781A (en) * 2014-11-26 2015-03-11 赵晓霞 Ring gear constant velocity universal joint
US10322512B2 (en) * 2015-06-15 2019-06-18 C.R.F. Società Consortile Per Azioni Joint for constructions
CN105422558A (en) * 2015-12-04 2016-03-23 中国航空动力机械研究所 Helicopter torque transmitting mechanism and helicopter speed reducer transmission device
CN105422558B (en) * 2015-12-04 2018-05-01 中国航空动力机械研究所 Helicopter torque-transmitting mechanisms and helicopter reducer transmission device
CN105485191A (en) * 2015-12-29 2016-04-13 武汉正通传动技术有限公司 Double-drum-shaped gear coupling
EP3431793A1 (en) 2017-07-18 2019-01-23 Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation Improved coupling assembly
US10941814B2 (en) 2017-07-18 2021-03-09 Hamilton Sunstrand Corporation Coupling assembly
WO2021081638A1 (en) * 2019-10-31 2021-05-06 Distribution Ad Waters (Can) Inc. Adjustable covering trim for a concealed valve and articulated adaptor
US20220161925A1 (en) * 2020-11-23 2022-05-26 Bell Textron Inc. Spline with spherical alignment terminal
CN114215882A (en) * 2021-12-07 2022-03-22 齐重数控装备股份有限公司 Multilayer product fine indexing powerful mechanical transmission device based on differential transposition principle

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DE3370173D1 (en) 1987-04-16
EP0093694B1 (en) 1987-03-11
EP0093694A1 (en) 1983-11-09

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